Sugar and Spice
by Tasia'sENDLESSDreams
Summary: Her persona is synthetic, sweet smiles masking her complex need to alter the universe around her. His aura is an intricate blend of mystery, throwing the world off the scent of one simple truth he fears. Sometimes a taste of sugar, or a pinch of spice, is all it takes to balance a sense of perspective. (AkiraxAlice drabbles. Prompts are considered and encouraged!)
1. Autumn-Ice-Mitten-Umbrella

**DRABBLES INCLUDED:**

 **AUTUMN**

 **ICE**

 **MITTEN**

 **UMBRELLA**

* * *

 _ **Import Message (A/N):** From the same scatterbrained author that brought you that TakuxMegu fic that no one asked for (Sun and Sea), now comes another exciting addition to the speckle of fics no one bothers reading since they're not Sorina. Stay tuned for the author's note at the end of the fic, where you can find out how to contribute to the existence of another struggling crack ship!_

* * *

 **AUTUMN**

If they had to look back on the moment that everything had changed, Akira would say it was the day Alice beat down his door with her relentless determination to join the Moon Festival with a booth of her own. Alice would disagree, saying it was the day she witnessed him take out Erina's secretary in a ruthless show of strategic power during the First Year Selections. Either way, autumn had brought about a change of perspective and habit for both of them in its wake.

 **ICE**

Akira had grown tolerant of the winter during his time in Japan. He was not a fan of cold weather, but he did enjoy the demand for intricate spices that it brought to the pallets of others. Drinks seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg, and even cayenne. Food and desserts that were savory and warming with a tidal wave of aroma.

Those were things he could enjoy and was quite an expert on.

However, the thing he would forever loath is also what came with cold weather.

Snow.

Bitter, cold and evil snow that formed into ice.

Ice that was dangerous, stubborn and ridiculously hard to shovel off of driveways and pathways for Shiomi Jun.

Now here he sat, watching his oddly gathered cluster of acquaintances sliding across that loathsome substance. Like it was the most entertaining thing they'd done since that freestyle cooking seminar.

And of course, Nakiri Alice of all people had to skate up to chastise him as he sat safely on a bench, away from the nonsense.

They were currently at a "skating rink" that had formed from one of the academy ponds freezing over. Akira was doing his best to look miserable, despite Jun forcing him to go out and "seize this moment" to form bonds with his peers.

"Neh, Hayama-kun? Is something wrong?" Alice had asked in her sugary, cynical way. "Do you not know how to ice skate?"

She was dressed in a ridiculously showy white outfit. It sparkled as she moved and was adorned with fur, like she thought she was some Queen of the North.

"I'd prefer not too," Akira insisted sullenly, not willing to admit to the pampered Nakiri princess that he wasn't exactly coordinated when it came to gliding across things.

"Come, come now, Hayama-kun!" Alice chided, obviously delighted at his hesitant look towards the ice. "You're just pouting because you think your the hottest thing in the kitchen. Now you can't take a little ice?"

Akira was about to retort to the little sugar plum fairy fiercely. His sentiments never came to fruition, as Alice grabbed both of his hands and dragged him up from the bench and onto the ice, taking his words as he began to sink gracelessly.

How was she this strong when the only thing he'd ever seen her lift was a beaker tube or a designer handbag?

His cheeks suddenly burned as he realized he now clung for dear life to Nakiri Alice's fluff covered torso for balance.

"Well, of course, I'll teach you how to skate, Hayama-kun," Alice jested, wrapping her cashmere covered hands around Akira's frozen ones as he tried to stumble away with sheer embarrassment. "All you had to do was ask!"

Akira desperately searched for Kurokiba, hoping to ironically bark out a plea of assistance to the Nakiri dog to deal with his mistress. When he saw the Mad Dog calmly sipping some warm beverage in the middle of the ice, acutely aware of his presence and Alice's current activities, the prodigious young chef lost all hope as he could barely control his limbs.

Dangerous, stubborn, ridiculous...Nakri Alice was ice, and Akira did his best to loathe her as her ruby eyes couldn't mask a storm of amusement behind them.

 **MITTEN**

"Your dog is slacking," Akira Hayama said, holding a cream cashmere mitten up to Alice.

The snow pale girl only stared at him with curiosity, as his sudden approach outside of her classroom had been quite unexpected. She hadn't been planning to see him until later, when she and Ryo would pay the Shiomi research facility another generous visit in her boredom.

"Having you two pop up in Jun's lab lately has been bad enough," Akira scolded, an aggravated scowl set into his refined features "But I can't pick up after all of you. Tell Kurokiba to do his job and watch what you leave around, or I'm changing the locks like Jun should have done the first time you two appeared for the Festival."

Alice only grinned her oh-so-pleasant smile and took the mitten, patting Akira on the head with no qualms, despite their height difference.

"Thank you, Hayama-kun!" Alice said gratefully, a smirk seeping into her tone she could barely contain. "I'll be sure to let Ryo-kun know his job is being threatened by your excellent delivery service."

She waved at him and pranced off to where Ryo was supposed to be dutifully waiting for her.

Akira, meanwhile, left with a face blushing with anger and some other emotion he didn't quite feel like identifying.

 **UMBRELLA**

Alice pouted as she carried her own umbrella to shield herself from the storm across campus, heading to the Nakiri mansion. Ryo was sick at home today, and he would be of no use to her in the long run if she didn't let him rest now. As she migrated between the various academy buildings, she caught sight of Akira Hayama, pounding on the door of his meager spice laboratory to no avail of anyone answering.

Alice assumed he might have locked himself out. The sight of him murmuring colorful language at the windows through the rain, trying to catch someone's attention, was slightly amusing due to his usually stoic nature.

"Hayama-kun!" she said, gleefully running over to him. "Whatever happened to make you use such words? You're usually much cooler than this."

Akira turned swiftly, probably to angle his frustration on her. In retaliation, she put the broad, lavender umbrella over his head to shield him from more oncoming droplets. Her smile was content as she stopped his protesting in his tracks.

"Jun borrowed my key again and must have lost the spare," Akira murmured miserably. "I'm sure she's passed out in there after another all-nighter."

' _Hmm, he's not at all fun when he sounds this defeated,'_ Alice thought, considering that the poor boy may have been out there long enough to warrant getting sick, just like Ryo, if he kept this up.

That mutant nose of his would be positively useless in the wake of congestion and a sinus infection. As much as she would have liked to see him knocked down from his pedestal a bit, he _was_ technically an asset to her entourage now. At least since their booth at the Moon Festival, even though he denied it every time she reminded him.

No, that wouldn't do at all. Not when she had just thought of something far more suited to his potential at the moment.

"Well, come on then," Alice cheered, thrilled at the prospect fate had delivered her.

She shoved the umbrella into the taller boy's hands as she grabbed his free arm. Then, she eagerly dragged him off in the direction of her not so humble residence.

"What are you doing?" Akira shouted bewildered, unable to do anything but follow her abrasive lead.

"You need somewhere dry, and I need someone to hold this umbrella," Alice chirped. "Come one, Hayama-kun. I'll get you fixed up at my place, and you'll be the perfect stand-in for Ryo for the rest of the day!"

Akira didn't fight, and Alice wasn't foolish enough to believe he was keen on the idea of being her replacement aid, but she was certain she could convince him he had nothing better to do if he resisted.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 ** _Hey you! That's right! You! The imaginary AlicexAkira fan stumbling upon this author's note out of sheer, miserable boredom!_**

 _Have you developed an irrational craving to read about something other than Totsuki's favorite passive-aggressive pairing? (*cough* *cough* Sorina *cough*) Have you tried settling for stories about Totsuki's second favorite passive-aggressive pairing (*cough* *cough* RyoxAli *cough*), but your masochism prohibits you from enjoying any ship that is easily expected?_

 _Did you absolutely melt at the dynamic between waifu of the year (Alice Nakiri) and a certain spicy tsundere (Akira Hayama) during the Moon Festival, but you can't bring yourself to contribute to a fandom that may be the equivalent of screaming into the void? Do plot lines mean jack to you as long as somewhere in that void, two players out of Totsuki's favorite OT3 pairing are being a mess of flirty and arguing adorableness?_

 _If so..._

 _THEN DO I HAVE A DEAL FOR YOU!_

 _This story is a collection of AkiraxAlice drabbles of various lengths and context. None of these are bound by canon, timeline, time, space or even your imagination._

 ** _Follow these easy steps to participate:_**

 ** _1\. Give me a one word prompt in a review that you'd like me to make a drabble about._**

 ** _2\. I take on the challenge and write said drabble._**

 ** _3\. I post said drabble request, among others, in chapter updates._**

 ** _4\. We get to scream into the void together. Everyone wins!_**

 _These drabbles were inspired by my existing TakuxMegu fic (Sun and Sea), and I may do a few more of these for my favorite under represented couples if readers are interested enough. The plot for some of these drabbles eventually piece together, a bit like a jigsaw puzzle._

 _Hopefully you enjoyed this sample platter of my new favorite couple I can't get out of my head. Thank you for any and all support, and all satire aside, I would love to see this fandom grow a bit more! :)_

 _Review or PM me!_

 _Till next time, Ja Nee!_

 _Tasia'sEndlessDreams_

 _P.S.-No offense was intended to any Sorina fans during the making of this author's note. I actually think they're cute, and I'm certain authors greater than me have fics with them covered (*cough* *cough* Akai Ito by Madeline Axelle *cough*). My weirdness is better suited to the crack ships._


	2. Angst-Caramel

**DRABBLES INCLUDED:**

 **ANGST**

 **CARAMEL**

* * *

 **ANGST**

Alice would tease Akira relentlessly about how "angsty" she thought him to be.

" _ **Mou, Hayama-kun! You can't live life brooding and working 24/7. That's how you got into that mess with Central in the first place. Shiomi-sensei was right of course. Now don't just leave us standing out here, or I'll tell her you left me and Ryo out in the cold instead of inviting us in for another session of peer bonding. Then you'll really get it!"**_

Yes, she threatened him with Shiomi-sensei quite often to get her way at first. She wasn't sure what else she could do to have him open up and let loose every once in a while. He was so eager not to upset the professor again after what he put her through during the fiasco with her wretched Uncle, blackmailing him with that became almost too easy.

" _ **Hayama-kun, honestly, why are you giving me that look? You got so frustrated trying to fix Jun's old equipment when we came by the other day, and you were so difficult you didn't even ask for help when I was gracing you with my very presence! Your dark cloud can't be that low that you couldn't even see the opportunity right in front of you. Now get over here and help move these pieces in so I can install your new machine! Ryo can't take all these boxes in by himself!"**_

Going forward though, she had to get a bit more creative. She had to invent excuses to come by, excuses to bother him during and after classes disguised as Elite Ten business, excuses to insist the current Shiomi facilities were subpar and he better spend time becoming educated on the latest technology with her, or what was he even trying to achieve in the gourmet world?

" _ **Hayama-kun! For goodness! Sake! Smile a little, won't you? It's like you're not even eating this amazing dish I just prepared! That's quite rude, and don't you know people will like you more when you smile. Scientific peers and business partners more importantly! What would Shiomi-sensei say to you scaring away your supporters? Now hurry up and please tell Ryo I'm the winner of this Shokugeki so that I can start preparing the dessert for the rematch."**_

She pestered him, she really did, when it came to his ability to be positive. To be light. To be optimistic, to be a kid for goodness sake when he felt the weight of the world was his cross to bear. She pestered him, because the last time someone else hadn't cared enough to try and keep some light in his dark, genius cloud, he'd fallen through the cracks.

She had thought there was so much promise after both festivals, their teamwork all together toward the end...and that smile.

That smile he'd let slip at their booth at the Moon Festival when he thought she hadn't noticed, she liked that smile.

It was so different from anything else he showed to the world.

Alice always did like accepting challenges from projects she found interesting, so she decided to take on this one.

She grinned, she smirked, she joked, she teased, she lectured, she nagged, she laughed...always ending every interaction with a sugar-sweet smile on her face that would never prompt him to think deeper, to sink deeper into anything he couldn't handle.

He didn't need the excuse or encouragement to be angsty again. The last thing she wanted was for him to drift again...or farther away...than he already was.

And if continuous pestering on her end was the means to the end, well, so be it.

Hayama-kun always did make the most amusing...even adorable...faces when he was being pestered.

 **CARAMEL**

Akira, regrettably, had become more social since his first few years at Totsuki and his rise to the Elite Ten Council.

This acquired him quite a few open admirers that had crept out of the shadows now that he didn't intimidate them into oblivion in a similar style to Kurokiba.

Now on White Day, the Shiomi Research facility was stacked to the ceiling with chocolate offerings from the aforementioned admirers.

Jun was naturally over the moon. Due to pride for her adopted son's popularity and widespread admiration by his classmates, and also due to the fact that she would have claim on the treats Akira couldn't stand, which would be most of it.

There were classic hand made chocolates and truffles in beautiful shapes with interesting centers. Some had tried to up the game by creating bite-sized baked goods like brownies, cheesecake, macarons, and even cake pops.

All were flawlessly presented and decorated to entice any dessert connoisseur. Anyone with a lesser developed sense than him would be entirely satisfied, delighted even.

It wasn't his intention to be rude, but due to his olfactory abilities, it was just too easy to tell how desperately his admirers had tried and when they had completely missed the mark.

Plenty of girls must have thought they could "impress" him with avant-garde use of certain spices in their flavor and fillings, but the amateur attempts at blending them with the creations had fallen flat.

The cacao was never perfectly utilized, in either the dark or the light chocolates, and if something even had the gall to contain cinnamon, he avoided it altogether.

He had never been a fan of sweet things anyway.

He'd been filing the chocolates away in the lab's multiple fridges in easy places for Jun to find when he knew she would be craving some in the next few weeks. It was 11:30 p.m., the day was almost over and he hoped he had finally seen the last of chocolate for the next 24 hours. At 11:35 p.m., Akira cringed at the sound of the high pitched doorbell that had been added to the facility front.

"If that's another box of freakin' chocolates, I swear I'm going to set something on fire," Akira vowed as he swung open the door, ready to verbally assault whoever had the gall to come by this late at night.

In place of a person or a colorfully wrapped package covered in hearts, sat a simple, neat little white box.

Akira brought it inside, begrudgingly, after checking for anyone around the premises.

As he lifted the lid to figure out which fridge to file it under for Jun, he was hit with a tidal wave of aroma that he closed his eyes to comprehend before he even looked into the box.

Caramel.

Sea salt.

Cinnamon.

The cinnamon essence was overwhelming, but in a way that was far more complementary than all other attempts he'd seen.

He opened his eyes and gazed down at a box that cradled twelve caramel squares like jewels in a display case.

The golden brown sweets had a satin sheen and the tops were dusted with tiny red crystals of sea salt that sparkled subtly under the dim laboratory lights. The cubed molds were so geometrically perfect they would make a mathematician drool at the sight.

The cinnamon smell concentrated into the caramels now wafted around him as he imagined being subtly caressed by a red mist of the spice.

A lavender note card was taped to the inside of the box lid, along with a strange transparent bag. As he turned it over to look for a name of some kind, all he found was a series of scratchy characters reading:

" _The caramels have been coated with a polymer that will prevent them from sticking together, but this thermal resistant bag will also prevent any melting._

 _You're welcome."_

Of course, this was the work of Alice.

The message on the card was the messily artful scrawl of a scientist that thought faster than they could write. He was only able to read it after years of deciphering Jun's own brand of calligraphy.

And Alice knew this.

Every word in those two scribbled sentences had been strategically chosen to identify her.

The specially designed package concealed the aroma until the moment he lifted the lid so that he couldn't use his abilities to arrogantly decipher and dispose of the sweets inside.

It was textbook Alice to choose caramels to distinguish herself against every chocolate treat that had bombarded him since this morning.

Caramels didn't melt as easily as chocolate.

They could withstand the heat of lab coat pockets.

A single piece could probably last through hours of late-night experiments and studying.

You could savor them at whatever speed you chose as the confection disintegrated slowly over your tongue.

And caramel would always have superior compatibility with the flavor of cinnamon.

This had clearly been a gesture to prove how well the two of them both knew each other.

The question was...why? What did the narcissistic girl have to gain from making it?

Curiosity on multiple levels got the better of Akira.

He decided to try one in order to see how he could make a superior creation. Then he could throw it back in the Nakiri girl's face for his own amusement and make this whole pointless day worth something.

Oh damn...the aroma…

Lifting one cube near his face was now the equivalent of holding a raw cinnamon stick therapeutically close to his nose. He pondered how she could achieve this level of scent concentration as he popped the cube into his mouth.

Oh damn...his knees... were they buckling?

He braced himself against a nearby table as the sweet...and the salt..and the spice...obliterated all of his senses.

Damn, that girl had been taking notes.

No, he didn't like sweet things, but the flavor profile blended in this simple three-ingredient compilation was something on another level.

The nostalgia of the cinnamon hit him with a flooding warmth. It was perfectly infused within the caramel disintegrating on his tongue, and somehow also infused in the sea salt crystals on the top.

He saw images of Jun's face. He felt safe and at home and accepted, all of the things cinnamon was supposed to do when he sought the aromatherapy in his most stressed moments.

This one single cube of caramelized sugar was so much more than it appeared. It smelt, tasted and felt...god the feeling… it was so much more.

Was this supposed to be another one of her infuriating, cryptic messages?

"What do you want from me, Nakiri?" Akira murmured aloud, pounding a fist of fury on the table as he succumbed to a new layer of flavor as the topcoat of the caramel melted in his mouth.

Ugh, of course, she had actually layered the flavors in the cubes in a hidden Neapolitan style. It would partner so well with this hamfisted metaphor of hers.

Yes, she knew him well. Too well.

Was this a threat? It felt like one. He always gave the paler Nakiri's sinister side the benefit of the doubt. She was too smart not to watch carefully.

And even if it wasn't a threat, what was this ploy for attention supposed to be? Why did she want _his_ attention, when she already had the world in her hands on a silver platter?

His strategic mind turned painfully with thoughts of the idea as he filed away the rest of the sweets. He stowed the white box and the note in his personal desk in the laboratory, convincing himself furiously that it was just evidence to confront her with later.

The caramels stayed with him though, stored in the transparent bag and hidden in his lab coat pocket.

That one damn cube lasted through a few more hours of recipe testing, Elite Ten paperwork and organizing Jun's lessons for the following day.

Akira also couldn't help but wonder if it was Alice's intention, as each layer melted away, for her face to appear like a ghost in his thoughts. Right after Jun's.

Well, there were eleven more cubes. Eleven more nights he could spend thinking about her later.

Wait...damn it!

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Man, talk about screaming into the void after so long…_

 _Hi guys! It's definitely been a minute since I've updated this drabble series, but the fall and winter seasons always makes me think of this couple, so inspiration struck. I've had these two drabbles semi-complete for a while, but I finally got the drive to finesse them and post them up with the SNS season four now upon us! Now that the series concluded with the absolutely vaguest shipping conclusion in history, I may be able to keep up this couple drabble series and work around the canon. We'll have to see!_

 _Many spicy thanks for the 9 reviews, 11 favorites and 11 follows on this story so far! Several metric tons of thanks to the contributors of these two drabbles._

 _ANGST was suggested by_ ** _nakirierinah_** _, who left me one of my first reviews on this series and lots of great encouragement and fodder ideas for these two. I also, apparently, share a few favorite ships with them. ;)_

 _CARAMEL was the brilliant suggestion of_ ** _IceColdSea_** _, who I am very happy I made giggle with the last collection, and they probably spawned the inspiration for my favorite AkiAli drabble to date._

 _Drabbles to come:_

 ** _ADVICE (Suggested by Yoonggi)_**

 ** _SENSE (Inspired by theme suggestions from nakirierinah)_**

 _The next two get even more equal parts angsty and sensual, because what's the fun of AkiAli without those two delicious ingredients?_

 _Till next time, Ja Nee!_

 _Tasia'sEndlessDreams_

 _P.S.-Does anyone want a list of songs on my Sugar and Spice inspiration playlist? I'm quite proud of the curation of them..._


	3. Advice-Sense

**DRABBLES INCLUDED:**

 **ADVICE**

 **SENSE**

* * *

 **ADVICE**

It was probably the first time Akira had ever really, truly, yelled at Nakiri Alice.

Sure, he'd told her off during the Moon Festival for her poor teamwork skills, management skills and general fly-by-the-seat-of-her-designer-pants nature.

He rose his voice and cussed both her and Kurokiba out for pestering him on the daily before, and during, the booth preparation.

Before that even, she'd been a hovering moth near Kurokiba every so often when the raging seafood chef came with Soma to demand who could make a better random dish of the day. She restricted her interaction to giggling and occasional witty comments as the boys fought, but Akira always felt her eyes on him, like they were inspecting him somehow. In response, he would always glare back noticeably to inform her how much it peeved him.

Still, even during their initial time together, his scolding had never been too malicious. He'd genuinely warmed up to the duo, and all of his competitive classmates, after winning the Autumn Selections.

And Nakiri really had shaped up in the 11th hour when it mattered the most...which honestly astounded him that she'd listened to literally anything he'd ranted about…

But on this particular night, when all the support he'd built for Jun was crumbling through his fingers, Akira was not in any kind of mood to entertain any possible bullshit from the frivolous heiress.

" _ **Hayama-kun!"**_

Hell.

That childishly high timbre of her voice sounded like nails on a goddamn chalkboard.

" _ **Hayama-kun! It is I, Nakiri Alice, your illustrious leader! Oh! And Ryo-kun, of course."**_

Leader of what, exactly?

Did she have to knock so loud? And so much?

It certainly didn't help the headache gnawing at the back of his skull after being on the phone for the past three hours.

He wanted to just ignore her, but if history proved anything, she would just keep repeating her behavior till she broke the door down.

" _ **Hayama-kun! Open up! What would Shiomi-sensei think about-"**_

Akira swung the door open with a ferocity that momentarily stopped the girl's words.

No one got to say Jun's name right now. No one would disturb her.

Not after he had finally gotten the distressed woman to get some rest on the laboratory couch a few rooms away.

"What do you want, Nakiri?" Akira said, hissing and annunciating every syllable through his teeth.

Alice almost looked taken aback, but she recovered with her usual grin. Instead of folding her hands lazily behind her back, they were occupied with some kind of covered container. Kurokiba hovered silently behind her, holding an enormous cardboard box without complaint or emotion.

"You disappeared so suddenly after the final night of the Moon Festival, Hayama-kun," Alice said matter-of-factly with a ruby gaze that skewered him with mock innocence.

Of course he left right after the final announcements had been made. He and Jun had to catch their invited supporters at a post-festival networking event in the Yamanote District. To strike while the iron was hot after the recent success of their booth.

He had to keep connecting, keep working. He was always working.

Not that the Nakiri princess knew anything about that sentiment, or cared in the slightest.

"And?" Akira asked sharply, daring her to waste more of his precious time with the obvious.

"And," Alice said, parroting his tone with a huffy pout. "That meant we never got the chance to properly celebrate the success of our booth and our newly formed White Coat Trio! It was honestly rude, ditching us like that!"

"Celebrate?" Akira questioned, a barking and bitter laugh slipping through. "I don't know what the hell you measure success by, but if wasting the Shiomi group's finite resources and barely scrambling to save its reputation with a last-minute gimmick is worthy of a celebration, than I'd say you need to raise your standards more than your overinflated ego."

Alice actually flinched.

Good.

Akira was aiming to bite like the pit bull she tried marketing Kurokiba as. He wanted to wound, draw blood, scarr...he just wanted them to go away.

He had to protect Jun. He had to protect the lab. He had to call back dozens of investors with a sales pitch that could help him remedy whatever the hell had made them change their tune overnight.

And he couldn't do that if he was catering to another ridiculous play date with these two.

Alice gave him a two-second, once-over look. That very " _Who the hell do you think you're addressing?"_ look that her cousin had made infamous.

Kurokiba tensed slightly, like he seemed to recognize that look all too well, but Alice raised a hand. After holding off any command to her attack dog, she gave a very short sigh through her nostrils before gazing at Akira again with a sharper smile.

"You're certainly feistier than usual today," Alice said coolly, her red eyes narrowing. "Are you staying up all night again like Soma? You need to take my advice and just-"

"Taking your advice is the last thing I need," Akira snapped, silencing her with another laugh and a sneer. "In fact, here's some advice for you, Nakiri."

He took a strong step past the doorway and toward her, something sincerely angry as his voice rose to a pitch that would probably wake up Jun anyway.

"Learn about time and place!" he yelled. "Learn what an inconvenience you are! Learn about the goddamn world! Learn how to be anything else besides a narcissistic brat, because outside of all your scientific bullshit, you know absolutely nothing!"

He noticed the tray in Alice's hand start to tremble slightly with indignation, or was it a different emotion? That didn't seem to matter as she stomped her foot and tried to combat him.

"How dare you! If it wasn't for me you'd-"

"If it wasn't for you taking up my air for two weeks straight, I might have gotten somewhere with the Moon Festival!" Akira roared, taking another daring step toward her. "I could have topped sales! Researched something more innovative! If I was alone, I could have done something! Anything! To possibly prevent this!"

Something in his voice broke mid-rant, and he cringed as there was a perceived softness in Alice's face as she studied him.

"Hayama-kun...I-"

It honestly didn't matter what she said now, because Akira was on a roll. There was almost something therapeutic about raging against Alice this way, probably not even her, but the class and concept of what she represented.

A privileged class with money to burn that didn't care about who they burned with it in the process.

"You what? What, Nakiri? There is nothing you can say about this, because you will never understand! And how the hell could you? When you use big words and complicated techniques to cover up what you really are. A spoiled little girl with expensive toys, crying for attention because she can't handle the fact that she wasn't born special!"

Alice's lip quivered along with the tray now. Her red eyes met his, and something in Akira's gut sank. There was a genuine sense of vulnerability in the look on her face, something more genuine than the smiles he'd seen painting her lips on a daily basis.

But then it disappeared as quickly as he had detected it, and it was replaced by a banshee whine, shrill enough to shake the windows.

Big, fat tears welled up in Alice's eyes as the container fell from her hands. She balled up her fists, stomping her feet repeatedly like a denied toddler in a toy store.

"Mou! Hayama, you big meanie! Mou! Mou! Mou! How dare you say those things! To _me_! Your leader!"

She stomped toward him, the container at her feet now sliding toward the doorstep. Akira could smell chai wafting into the air as the lid was disturbed.

"The White Coat Trio was a huge success because I made it one, not your little spice tricks, and I _FORBID_ you to underestimate me!" She sobbed. "You and Erina! And all of Totsuki! And the whole world! I am a _NAKIRI_! And until you remember that, you're not allowed to speak to me until you can do it with the proper respect! Hmph! Ryo-kun! Come! We're leaving!"

With a puff of her red pouty cheeks, she turned on her heels and ran off.

The pale girl had sparkly tears trailing behind her as she wailed about the injustice of his words.

Big, sparkly fake tears...it was absolutely ridiculous how overdramatized they were.

They were the same ones she used during her tantrum on the stadium floor when Yukihira had defeated her, they were the ones she used in any proximity to Nakiri Erina when her cousin failed to acknowledge her for arbitrary reasons. They were the default tactic she'd used when he had scolded her multiple times about her grandiose ideas.

They were just...fake...a dramatic coping mechanism for her to try to score her way.

But the look in her eyes, before she'd turned on the faucet of tears, was more real than anything he'd ever seen from her.

It was that look that made Akira know he had possibly crossed a line.

"Damn it," Akira heard Kurokiba sigh with tired frustration. "Now I have to deal with THAT all night."

It was odd that the hell dog hadn't immediately followed his mistress, and Akira only found the ability to glare at him as he walked toward the open door of the spice laboratory and heaved the giant box on the ground at Akira's feet.

"Yo, Spice Bastard," Kurokiba muttered, throwing a subtle, yet dagger sharp look at him. "I'm not saying you were wrong. But here's some more advice. I'd look in that box before you talk to Miss Alice again. If ever. Doesn't matter to me."

Then he shrugged and walked off, probably sighing more about having to cater to a crying Nakiri Alice, when he'd rather do anything else.

Akira just cursed and went to deal with the paraphernalia littering the ground so he could get back to crisis planning.

Then he opened the container Alice had been holding and found...cupcakes…

Cream frosted cupcakes made out of chai flavored spice cake with cartoon images of all three "White Coat Trio" members screen printed onto the frosting tops.

It was messy from the fall, but Akira could make out the message " _Great job!"_ scrawled above the chibi heads on each tiny cake.

Did she know that this type of spice cake was Jun's favorite?

With bitter curiosity, he opened Kurokiba's box and found a brand new 3D food printer nestled inside, probably waiting to be installed in the facility lab.

Is this what she meant when she had prattled on about experimenting with more technology collaborations at the Shiomi labs in the future?

He thought she was just blowing smoke at Jun, who had come over to admire the machine several times during their turn around day at the festival. He didn't think Alice would want to work with their group more, needed after she succeeded in getting what she wanted.

This type of printer wasn't inaccessible to students at Totsuki, but it was expensive enough that very few machines were available to check out or use in designated gastronomy labs.

Did she use some kind of pull as a Nakiri to get one just for their facility?

Pull it out of her private collection?

Buy it herself?

No matter what means she had, overly generous with anything is not what Akira ever expected her to be.

Whether it was factual in the past or not, that feeling of saying the wrong thing at the worst possible moment spread through Akira like food poisoning.

That disgusting feeling infected him as he heaved the machine into the lab, storing it out of sight in the farthest corner he could. It ate at him as he picked up the remaining container of cupcakes, smushed frosting and all, and set them on the counter for Jun to find later.

If it was any other time, he might have moved in the direction the Nakiri girl took off in. But, this was definitely the worst timing for all of this to be happening, and Akira's need for self-preservation capsized his sense of empathy.

Just a few rooms away, a distressed woman was counting on him to save her life's work...their life's work, from the brink of oblivion.

So he closed the lab door, sat in the dark by the front room phone and took a bite of a single cupcake, trying to think of all the ways he could win the oncoming war.

* * *

 **SENSE**

When it first started happening, and kept happening in their young adult, post-Totsuki lives, it had never really been about the physical.

Not completely.

Not for Alice, at least.

She always fancied herself as someone more partial to the mental sorts of seduction.

Sure, eye candy was great!

She let Ryo run around shirtless and buff, up to his own masculine devices, without complaint for a reason. Her natural flirtatious personality lent itself to her batting a few playful eyelashes at the men she thought to be attractive. She was a huge, romantic movie buff and a complete sucker for a traditionally charming male lead in a cliche love scene.

But she and Akira would never be a romance movie, one where the star crossed lovers find each other by fate and decide to commit to each other against all the odds, because love was more important than anything.

No. No, it wasn't.

And if anyone wanted to argue with her, well she'd just point them in the direction of the 92nd Generation Cinderella romance of the century, Prince Takumi Aldini and Country Pumpkin Megumi Tadokoro, and ask how that was going these days.

They were proof, if anything, that all the devoted love in the world would never be enough to keep a person close.

As a woman grounded more deeply in science and reality than most people truly gave her credit for, Alice had always made sure to take it for what it was.

It wasn't true love, but it wasn't just mindless sex either.

It was...sense.

In a literal and figurative aspect actually.

It was a sense of smell, which was completely unavoidable when scent was such a powerful trigger to one of them and the other absolutely loved to exploit it.

Aromachology was shortly added to Alice's impressive resume of scientific expertise, and choosing a fragrance for the day became as articulately involved as selecting a well coordinated-outfit. Of course she'd been able to have specialized perfumes manufactured that wouldn't distract from her cooking and would only emanate from the points of skin she exposed. That was the easy part.

The hard part was carving out her own spot in his olfactory recognition. That was a scientific study on its own, but in time, she learned how to specialize her attempts at overwhelming him.

She'd wear cinnamon only to soothe him in warmth and lull him into nostalgic relaxation so deep, he couldn't refuse her. She'd wear light florals on occasion, lavender or lilies as white as her complexion, to remind him that she was capable of classic sophistication under her white coat. When she wanted to rile him, make him remember who she was and how sweet she could taste, every inch of her skin would be soaked in sugary vanilla. It was her signature scent, her way of combating the importance he put on other spices, other people and other feelings. Akira would confirm that it worked too, the way the smell of something as simple as freshly baking cookies caused him to break into a light sweat.

It was the scent of memories composed of caramelized sugar, creme brûlée lip gloss and mixed spice plants in backroom laboratories. The aroma from low burning candles and bubble baths on rare nights they had to themselves. Salt shed on skin after blissful hours tasting the other.

It was a sense of touch, because they usually met together in shadows, in the actual dark.

It was easier that way, for Alice to close her eyes and just feel strong arms, rough abs and silky locks on the tips of her fingers. To nestle her head in the soft, supportive skin of a broad shoulder. To let him caress the voluptuous curves that served as a great weapon and obstacle throughout her life. It was wrapping those curves up in velvet, satin, silk and scandalous scraps of lace to entice him to caress them even more. Because yes, fragrance was _his_ trigger, but touch was _hers_. Not to mention it was the closest form to a "love-language" she'd admit to having.

That kind of touch was something synonymous to luxury, a natural concept to her and something she secretly craved to bring into his life. Because he deserved it, he deserved it more than any person she would come to know on this earth.

If that luxury came in the form of taking her in a lavender, velvet cami dress on silk sheets at the top penthouse suite in some international five-star corner of the world, or if it came with the luxury of spending a few precious minutes, hours or days with this person that understood her, then she'd take it.

And give it, she'd give him as much as she could.

It was a sense of taste, which was a given when both of them had been conditioned to communicate emotions, not through well thought out sentences, but through artfully arranged meals on china plates.

When a curry recipe was how Alice interpreted Hayama's internal emotions, and a ridiculously avant-garde dish represented how manic or distressed Alice was about something she felt she needed to escape. When orgasmic moans migrated from kitchen tables to bedrooms or hidden closets, because they'd said everything they needed to say with their food, and they didn't need to say anything anymore. All they had to do was get lost in each other.

As much as she used the metaphor of human sense to analyze the dynamic between them, the other two human senses, sight and hearing, were off the table for her. Because beauty was shallow, and you could always tell someone exactly what they wanted to hear, despite any evidence of its truth. She'd know on both accounts, it was why she could so easily manipulate those that opposed her.

But never Akira, she could never truly manipulate him.

And really...as a scientist...where was the truth, in any of this?

When all the senses were blurring together into something more abstract, something she couldn't solve with simple reasonings of curiosity and amusement, what would this whole thing even be called?

Sure, there was a sense of strategic satisfaction, knowing that they had studied each other to extreme, molecular levels, and knew just the way to deconstruct the other in the most blissful, earth-shattering way possible.

Sure, there was a sense of creativity involved in knowing an intellectual equal that intimately and pushing the boundaries of daily life to surprise them.

And sure, there was a sense of time, or none at all, when she and Akira took a break in their busy schedules to entice the other into coming, just close enough, to seize that moment.

Yet, at the end of all the senses, the truth was that there really was no sense to this whole thing at all.

Maybe that's why Alice liked it, maybe that's why she held on. Because of that one remaining sense of irony, that she knew she was fooling herself all along.

Fooling herself into thinking they would ever be more than old highschool rivals-with-benefits, or more than long-distance lovers with short term windows for affection that plagued most of the Jewel Generation in their 20s nowadays.

She could accept that, because that was the reality.

But it wasn't what she really wanted.

Not completely.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Updating the same story? In one year? Me? Whaaaaaaa…..?_

 _Hi everyone! I hope your winter holidays were special and worthy of celebrating, in any small or great sense! Consider this my belated Christmas gift to you, and if any of you celebrate 3 Kings Day, well, then here ya go! Even better. ;)_

 _I can't believe this story shot up to 14 reviews, 16 Faves and 15 Follows since the last chapter. I feel like these days on FFNET, if you didn't have a heavy following before, it can be hard to get even one or two reviews per chapter, so thank you so much guys! I may move some of this stuff to AO3 eventually, maybe? Any consensus from folks out there? Lemme know!_

 _Thank you to_ _ **Yoongi**_ _, who was an early supporter of story and suggested_ _ **ADVICE**_ _in their last review. I hope it was as dramatic and angsty as I had promised last chapter._

 _Thank you again_ _ **nakirierinah**_ _who also gave me the idea for_ _ **SENSE,**_ _though it's differently named. Yeah, Yeah...I know I did another mind ramble for Alice again this time, but those are just so fun with her. It also seemed to be the classiest way for her to reminisce on, well...more sensual topics that happen between them in the future. ;P_

 _Drabbles Coming Up:_

 _Um...I'll be honest, the only ones I've got so far are:_

 _ **BONFIRE (Inspired by**_ _ **Eternal Nexus Warrior**_ _ **, since ironically I already wrote a drabble with their first suggestion, so I let their review be a muse instead!)**_

 _ **SCIENCE (Suggested by Uchiha Zoro)**_

 _So I need to get it in gear! Also, per request (because I asked…), below are some of my top AlixAki playlist pics for Sugar and Spice. Plenty of literal sweet, spicy, snowy and science-y references, with some Bollywood inspired sounds for good measure . You can find all of these songs (even the covers) on Youtube, cause that's where I did._

 **Sugar and Spice Playlist:**

Lavender and Velvet - Alina Baraz _**(This song straight up inspired Sense, and Alina is my new musical muse for Alice.)**_

Cinnamon - Jome

Say it Right - Nelly Furtado

Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls

Like Sugar - Matchbox Twenty

How to be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds

D.N.A. _(Little Mix Cover)_ -Jonnie Edwards

Snow - Jome

The Scientist _(Coldplay Cover)_ \- Boyce Avenue _**(The atmosphere of this duet version just gives me the feels I need for these two.)**_

Whatever It Takes - Imagine Dragons

Salt - Tinashe

The One - Alina Baraz

 _Till next time, Ja Nee!_

 _Tasia'sEndlessDreams_


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